Is this a good time to be in real estate? A reader from my homebuying site at About.com wrote to me yesterday, asking questions about breaking into real estate in California. He is married, his wife doesn't work outside the home, and they have two children. It's frightening to give up a day job t
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01/14/2009
I suspect most people would like to forget 2008 and are hoping that what happened in 2008 will quietly slink away and not taint the new year, but the fact is almost all of it is seeping into 2009. As I looked back on last year and reviewed the top real estate stories in 2008, comparing those to 2
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01/13/2009
A client called me yesterday, sounding in somewhat a panic. He and his wife bought a high water bungalow in Midtown a few months ago. Among the many glorious features shared by homes in Midtown, Sacramento, this home also has wood floors, bordered by inlaid mahogany, but the floors needed to be r
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01/12/2009
Almost everybody I talk to lately says they are overwhelmed with business. Escrow companies are swamped with foreclosures and refinances. Agents are showing property like crazy to first-time home buyers. Sellers are calling to obtain pre-listing advice and prepare for the Sacramento spring real e
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01/11/2009
A client asked me the other day if he would get a refund from Sacramento County for buying a short sale home. All those REOs and short sale transactions involve transferring the present tax base until the home is reassessed. If you bought a home for $200,000 that sold for $500,000 a few years ago
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01/10/2009
Here's a news flash: Beginning February 6, California state offices will close the first and third Fridays of each month. I realize we have a $40 billion-dollar deficit in California, but how are state workers going to survive this? It's estimated that state workers' income will shrink by 10%. M
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01/10/2009
It seems that this winter is a bit colder than last year. While we've received a reprieve from the type of rainstorms that hit last year -- such as the January 4th storm that knocked a tree down on my home in Land Park -- it's been frostier. Last Sunday morning, I walked across the lawn and it cr
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01/09/2009
8621 Sebrell, Sacramento, CA 95823, priced appropriately at $175,750. This is a stunning single-story, three-bedroom, two-bath home in the Elk Grove school district with soaring ceilings and an open floor plan. It will take your breath away. The interior has been custom finished, featuring intere
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01/08/2009
I'm looking forward to attending my first office meeting of the year, especially since nobody has been in the office for three weeks or so. That's one of the amenities I enjoy at Lyon Real Estate -- working in a large top-producing Midtown Sacramento office, surrounded by smart, funny and hardwor
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01/07/2009
Years ago, when I was buying a home in Land Park, Sacramento, and in the process of moving from Minneapolis, I had hired a real estate agent who rarely communicated with me. I would email her and she would not respond. I would leave her voice mails and she would not return my phone calls. Being s
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01/06/2009
